


believe me

by complicationstoo



Series: STB Bingo Round One [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Kiss, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Insecure Tony Stark, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Truth Serum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28658325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/complicationstoo/pseuds/complicationstoo
Summary: “So this is definitely one of the strangest situations I’ve ever been in,” Tony says, plopping down on the hard tile floor.“One of?” Steve asks with raised eyebrows. “It’s troubling that you can’t lie to me right now, and yet you still aren’t saying it’s the worst.”“Because it isn’t the worst,” Tony says simply, the honesty spilling out of him so easily even though he hates the way it feels on his tongue. “I wouldn’t even call it one of the worst. Doesn’t even crack the top five on that one, and please, don’t ask, because that’s a list I don’t want to say and you don’t want to hear. But strangest? It’s up there for sure.”
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: STB Bingo Round One [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037892
Comments: 25
Kudos: 375
Collections: STB Bingo: Round One





	believe me

**Author's Note:**

> written for my Steve | Tony | Bucky Bingo square:  
> I1 - Nick Fury

“So this is definitely one of the strangest situations I’ve ever been in,” Tony says, plopping down on the hard tile floor. 

“One of?” Steve asks with raised eyebrows. He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, and Tony has the fleeting thought that it isn’t fair that he looks so good in the SHIELD-issued cheap cotton pants and t-shirt. “It’s troubling that you can’t lie to me right now, and yet you still aren’t saying it’s the worst.”

“Because it isn’t the worst,” Tony says simply, the honesty spilling out of him so easily even though he hates the way it feels on his tongue. “I wouldn’t even call it one of the worst. Doesn’t even crack the top five on that one, and please, don’t ask, because that’s a list I don’t want to say and you don’t want to hear. But strangest? It’s up there for sure.”

He mentally goes through the worst list, because apparently he’s not even allowed to lie to himself right now, and his mind just has to confirm that this doesn’t make the top five list before he’s allowed to say it. But no, being quarantined in a dull room in the Helicarrier with Steve Rogers - who his brain forces him to admit he’s been half in love with for the last few months - while both of them are under the influence of truth serum forced on them by the villain of the month does not beat out wormholes, palladium poisoning, kidnapping, torture, and almost dying at the hands of the Mandarin. But honestly, none of those events seem all that strange in comparison to this. They’re kind of typical, actually. 

“How long did Bruce say this was going to last? I wasn’t listening.” Steve winces at the end of his sentence, obviously not planning that confession. He’s the first to jump on everyone else for not paying attention in important meetings, but now Tony knows with certainty he’s just as fallible as the rest of them.

“And that’s how you know that the truth serum really is a truth serum, huh?” Tony smirks. “He said at least the rest of the day, but he can’t know for sure.”

Steve nods, jaw tensing and loosening as he considers the situation. Eventually, he pushes off the wall and joins Tony on the floor, a few feet of space between them. “So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?”

“Truth or dare?” Tony suggests with a mischievous grin. 

“Well that’s one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard.”

Tony scoffs, “That’s just rude. I think it could be a real bonding experience. Hell, maybe by the end of this you won’t hate me as much.”

“I don’t hate you,” Steve says, and he winces again. 

“Was it painful for you to admit that? It looked painful.”

Steve rolls his eyes and takes a deep breath. “We probably shouldn’t talk at all.”

“Because you hate me?” Tony asks, mostly just to annoy him. 

“Because we can’t overshare if we aren’t talking.”

Steve seems rather miserable as he says it, and Tony decides to have mercy on him and try to follow his suggestion. He pointedly thinks about other things. Things he knows to be true already, like the fact that he hasn’t seen Rhodey in a while and he misses him, or that he needs to make some upgrades to Natasha’s widow bites. Clint’s arrows would be fun to tinker with, too, and he could probably use some new protective gear after that hit he took on the mission before this. The Iron Man suit is in dire need of upgrades to its filtration system, because apparently it doesn’t block out highly potent truth serum that’s been released into the air. 

He runs out of safe thoughts, though, after maybe ten minutes of sitting in absolute silence. His mind drifts to Steve, which honestly isn’t safe even when he isn’t being forced by an experimental drug to tell the truth. He already knows all the hard truths about his feelings and doesn’t need a serum to confirm it. But his brain is ever so kind enough to supply him with them again anyway, and the first is that even if his feelings were reciprocated, the odds of them breaking up in the end are astronomically high. The second is that they aren’t reciprocated at all, and he knows this with a degree of confidence that even truth serum can’t deny. 

“Hey, Steve?” Tony says suddenly, looking over at him. Steve’s legs are pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around them and his chin on his knees. He looks smaller like this, and Tony smiles fondly despite himself. 

“What?”

“Tell me everything’s going to be okay.”

Steve opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. He sighs dejectedly, and Tony says, “Yeah, that’s what I thought, but it was worth a shot.”

“Was it?” Steve questions.

“Must have been or I wouldn’t have been able to say it.”

Steve laughs, but there’s nothing happy about it, “Yeah, that’s right, I suppose.”

“I really hate this.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

Tony shrugs, “I feel like Thor wouldn’t mind. I don’t think he ever lies anyway.”

“He does,” Steve says. “I asked him who ate my leftovers the other day, and he told me it was Clint, but Jarvis has him on camera taking them. And then he told me it was Clint in a disguise.”

Tony snorts, leaning back to rest his head against the wall, “We live with a bunch of assholes.”

“That’s not true.”

“It’s very clearly my truth,” Tony retorts. “Which is different from your truth.”

Steve goes quiet for a moment, then says, “I read a book once on whether or not objective truth exists. I wonder if this proves that it doesn’t.”

“Oh, please don’t give A.I.M. that much credit. They aren’t good enough to have accidentally given the answers to a philosophical question that’s centuries old. Just accept that I believe that the team is comprised of assholes, myself included and yourself excluded, and leave it at that.”

“Why am I excluded? I thought I was the biggest one in your book.”

Tony resists the urge to slap himself in the forehead at the accidental confession. Not that it’s even close to revolutionary, but it does sting a bit that Steve actually believes that Tony still thinks of him like that.

“I haven’t thought of you like that in a very long time. Not since I got to know you better.”

Steve gives him a long look, then nods as if to himself. “That’s nice to know. For the record, while you know that I’m telling the truth, I haven’t thought of you like that in a long time, either.”

“Don’t you wish you were playing truth or dare right now instead of having this conversation?”

“Yes.”

Tony sits up straighter, grinning, “Well, that was unexpected. Should you go first or should I?”

“Aren’t dares a cop out here?” Steve asks, and he seems resigned to his fate of playing the game now. “It’s just the two of us in a room with exactly one piece of furniture. What dares even are there to do here?”

“You want to just play truth?”

Steve nods, “Sure. But nothing too personal.”

“I promise I will not ask anything that I deem as being too personal.”

“With your lack of boundaries, I’m not sure that means much,” Steve says dryly, and Tony laughs. 

“Yeah, well, I can’t promise that I won’t ask anything you deem too personal, because I don’t actually know what that includes. Now tell me if you actually like the way the Captain America uniform looks or if you just suck it up because of the public outcry if you changed it.”

Steve flushes red, embarrassed as he admits, “A little of both. I don’t really like the cowl, but everything else is just fine. Do you like it?”

Tony instantly regrets this game when he has to choke back the words that try to say that Steve in that uniform reminds him of when he was fourteen and just realized that he was into guys. 

“Um, yeah, I do. It’s - I like it’s nostalgic value,” Tony says, because apparently he is allowed to leave out pieces of the truth. “Do you think you could beat Hulk in a fight?”

“No.”

“Wow, that was fast. Don’t even need to deliberate that one?”

“I think I could get him to peacefully surrender.”

“I hate that you actually believe that.”

Steve grins, “I think I could calm him down enough to turn back into Bruce if I tried hard enough. Do you think you could beat him in a fight? I don’t think you could.”

“Thank you for -” the sarcasm dies in his throat, and he can’t force it out. He sighs bitterly, “Taking away my ability to be sarcastic seems especially cruel of A.I.M., but to answer your question, no, I don’t think I could. I think the only one of us who stands a chance is maybe Thor, but that’s only because he’s a god.”

“That seems like a fair assessment.”

“Wow, I just love to get praise from you,” Tony says, and the wry tone stays, but it’s painfully obvious that the statement holds true without it. He jumps right into his question and prays it distracts Steve from reading into it. “Strangest person you’ve ever had a sex dream about?”

“Fury,” Steve says instantly, and his eyes go wide as his brain catches up to his mouth. “Oh, God. I can’t believe that you know that now.”

Tony breaks free of his shock to laugh, “Can I ask who the top was? I’m not sure I picture either one of you as the bottom.”

“I like to bottom sometimes.” Steve slaps a hand over his mouth so hard that it’ll probably bruise, looking absolutely mortified.

“So do I,” Tony shrugs, and the mortification is now equally split between the two of them. “Do you want me to tell you mine so it’s less weird?”

“Please.”

“It was a threesome with Loki and that guy in the State Farm commercials.”

Steve’s face twists like he’s holding back a laugh, “You had sex in a dream with Jake from State Farm?”

"You fucked Fury in a dream, why can't I fuck Jake from State Farm? Actually, I guess technically you got fucked  _ by  _ Fury," Tony snickers. "Was he good in the dream?"

"Yeah, but I had a hard time looking him in the eye for a couple weeks after that."

"Because you were imagining him railing you?"

Steve flushes a lovely pink color. "No. I don't actually want that."

"Well, that's a relief. Although I imagine he's actually a pretty decent lay."

"You've imagined it before?"

"I mean, not vividly or anything. I wouldn't get off on imagining being fucked by him, but I've had the passing thought a time or two. I've got my judgments on everyone on the team, too."

Tony knows he fucked up the second he says it, especially when Steve's eyes light up. If Steve asks, he'll share them all because the compulsion will be too strong not to.

"All of us?"

"All of you," he confirms. "Have you never thought about it?"

"I -" Steve breaks off, biting his lip like he's trying to physically hold the words in. "Not everyone."

"Not everyone," Tony repeats. "But some of us? You've thought about some of the team in bed?"

Steve nods, and Tony asks, "Like vividly or just the thought?"

"That's too personal."

Tony swears under his breath as he watches Steve shift uncomfortably on the floor. "What if I give you one of mine in return?"

Steve looks up, eyes squinted in confusion. "One of your what?"

"I'll trade one of my fantasies about one member of the team if you give me one of yours. I promise I'll never tell whoever yours is about. It stays between us."

Steve hesitates, but after a moment he says, "Only if you go first."

"Okay," Tony says easily. He cycles through them in his brain, filtering out all the ones about Steve. "I would like to first say that I don't actually want this in reality. It would probably be weird and terrible, and the version in my mind is nicer."

"Who's it with?"

"Clint."

Steve laughs, "You have a fantasy about having sex with Clint?"

"He's very flexible," Tony grins. "But honestly it's more like Clint's body and an anonymous face. Like the situation is something that could happen with him, but I don't actually picture him. I just think he's probably the kinkiest of all of us."

"I doubt that."

"Oh, really?" Tony asks, intrigued. "Who do you think has him beat?"

"I, um, I don't - I can't say for sure."

"Way to bend the truth there. And you were worried about dares being cop outs." Tony shakes his head with a fond smile. "But I'll let that slide because it's your turn to share your teammate sexual fantasy. First though, you said not all of us, so how many of us?"

Steve picks absently at loose thread on the hem of his pant leg, chewing on the inside of his cheek. It sounds like a confession as he says, "Just one."

"Oh," Tony says for lack of a better response. "You don't have to keep up your end of the deal, Steve. If it's too personal. I'll understand."

Steve looks up at him, expression unreadable. "You won't tell anyone else?"

"Not unless you gave me your explicit permission."

"Okay," Steve nods. "I trust you."

Tony doesn't dare open his mouth, lest the way that statement makes him feel slips out. Steve exhales slowly, pushing a hand through his hair. It's still a little damp from the decontamination shower, and it's drying in every which way. 

"It's you."

It’s like someone flicked the off switch on Tony’s body at Steve’s words. His brain loses the ability to think, and he can’t seem to move or even breathe. Steve keeps his eyes locked on him, waiting for his response. 

“Did your truth serum already wear off?” Tony asks, and his voice is an octave too high. “Bruce said it would wear off before mine did. Yours did, right? And you’re fucking with me right now?”

“It’s still in me,” Steve says, and he reaches out for Tony’s hand. Tony lets him take it, marveling at how delicately Steve grasps his fingers. The pad of his thumb brushes across Tony’s knuckles, and Steve continues, “I was planning on telling you, actually. I don’t know when, but I always thought I would eventually.”

“Tell me that you fantasize about me in bed?”

Steve laughs nervously, “No, that was unplanned. I was going to tell you that I have feelings for you, but Natasha warned me that you would probably freak out, so I was just waiting for a good time. Are you freaking out?”

“Yes, I am. I don’t - I don’t know how I feel other than a lot of things at once,” Tony says, because truth serum doesn’t understand his emotions any better than he does, apparently. “You’re really telling the truth right now?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you about this even without the serum,” Steve says earnestly, and Tony does believe that. “Go ahead and ask me something if you want proof.”

Tony takes a few seconds to think of a question, then asks, “Do you actually like Natasha’s cooking?”

“Oh, God, no. I’d tell her if I wasn’t scared she’d stab me in my sleep for it. I don’t know how she manages to make food that’s raw and burnt at the same time.”

“Yeah, okay,” Tony smiles fragilely. “No one would admit that if they didn’t have to.”

Steve moves in closer, decreasing the gap between them to just a couple of inches. His knee bumps into Tony’s, and they’re hands rest together on Steve’s thigh. “So when you have your thoughts on me in bed, am I an anonymous face, too?”

Tony gets what he’s really asking here, and his heart rate increases even more. Steve might have been ready to confess, but Tony planned on his feelings being deeply buried forever. 

It takes him a surprisingly long time to realize that there’s no reason to be afraid anymore, for him to really process that Steve just told him his feelings are reciprocated and is anxiously waiting for Tony to say the same for him. 

“No,” Tony breathes out, wrapping his fingers more firmly around Steve’s hand. “You’re not an anonymous face.”

“A passing thought?”

Tony shakes his head, and he gets briefly distracted by the way their hands look together. The contrast of his tanned skin against Steve’s paler shade. Steve’s unmarked flesh, completely smooth from calluses and the like, held within Tony’s work-roughened and scar-littered hand. Somehow they fit together perfectly anyway. 

“You’re a lot of my thoughts,” Tony confesses, and he looks up from their hands to meet Steve’s steady gaze. Fluorescent lights shouldn’t make a person look so beautiful, he thinks. 

“Yeah?”

“Probably too many of them. It’s becoming quite the safety hazard in the lab.”

Steve smiles, and his laugh loses that nervous edge, “Should I stop coming down there while you’re working, then?”

“Definitely not. It’s the best part of my day.” Tony bites his lip, not having quite meant to admit that much, but Steve cups his jaw with his free hand so he can’t look away.

“And would you like it if I kissed you now?”

Tony can’t do anything but nod, and he has just enough sense about him to remember to lean in to meet Steve halfway. His eyes fall shut as Steve’s lips meet his, and it defies logic that Steve can undo him so easily from just the first few seconds of a kiss. Steve kisses him softly, but with clear purpose. There’s no hesitation or doubt in the way he kisses, and Tony finds himself giving up complete control to let him have it instead. 

“You know, I don’t think it was your turn to ask the question,” Tony says when they break apart, but the teasing tone is lost with how breathless he is. “But I can let that slide too, I suppose.”

Steve grins, his thumb stroking along the stubbled skin of Tony’s jaw, “I’d tell you I was sorry for breaking the rules, but it would be a lie.”

“And you still can’t do that, huh?” Tony asks, just to double check. Or maybe quadruple check at this point.

“Still can’t do that,” Steve confirms. “Which just means you’re going to have to believe me when I tell you that I love you.”

It’s everything he never let himself even imagine hearing, and Tony smiles, “And you’ll believe me when I tell you I love you, too.”

Steve pulls him back in, and their lips brush as he says, “Wouldn’t doubt it for a second.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [@ifmywishescametrue](https://ifmywishescametrue.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
